The Graduate and Professional Student Senate at Yale University released a new survey that reports on the experiences of graduate and professional students regarding bias, harassment, and discrimination on campus.

The study found that 33 percent of all students in Yale’s graduate and professional schools experienced bias, harassment or discrimination. More than 70 percent of all Black graduate or professional students reported incidents of bias, harassment or discrimination. More than half of all Black graduate or professional students at Yale said they experienced bias, harassment, or discrimination within their own department at Yale. This was more than triple the rate for White students.

Some 15 percent of all graduate or professional students at Yale said they disagreed with the statement, “I belong at Yale.” Some 30 percent of Black student said they felt like they did not belong at Yale.

More than one quarter of all Black graduate or professional students at Yale said that they believed that “my contributions are valued less than those of my colleagues.”

Some 62 percent of White students said they had a faculty mentor. Only 43 percent of Black students reported they had a faculty mentor.

Comments (1)

The “beat” continues, unfortunately. From 9/76 to 6/80, I served as an Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions. As an African-American, there was lots of bias in those years too. The secret to achievement in such an environment? Sharing information at all levels with each new graduate student entering. Show student “how” to get an advisor. Create a “Black Graduate Task Force”, which must be combined with Black students, White/Black Graduate Faculty and Administrators. They must meet monthly or even bi-monthly to discuss issues and discover ways to resolve issues. Not one student should be an “island” drifting lonely in a sea of confusion. Find a way. Make it work!

Leave a Reply

Due to incidents of abuse and harassment that have occurred in the past, JBHE will not publish telephone numbers or email addresses of individuals in this space. If you want to contact someone in a particular article, we suggest you contact them directly not in an open forum.

By the time of the Iowa caucuses on February 3, 2020 how many Democratic candidates do you think will still be in the field?